Sky Blue Days
by patriotprideboy
Summary: Madoka Kaname is surprised to find out that her homeroom teacher has been replaced by a red-haired lady. Coupled with an appearance by an equally mysterious transfer student, she wonders how her class will adapt the sudden change. Will it now be a year of misadventures or perhaps something more?


Going to school. Day after day, that's what students do. When they do well, they're rewarded with offerships from higher-level schools in order for them to find out what they want to do in life. Do they just attend classes for that purpose? No, not exactly. Some genuinely want to go through post-secondary to find a profession through a degree, while others look to expand their social circles and discover a lot about themselves in the process.

For a certain pink-haired girl, however, the question was harder to answer than it seemed.

Madoka Kaname sat down on her desk in the spacious, ultramodern classroom surrounding her. She flipped open the cover of her Toshiba-based laptop issued by the school and turned it on, appreciating the device with her innate zest. She was feeling a little tired, on the other hand. It was around 8:30 AM and waking up after a good weekend was not very enjoyable. Who could blame her, though? Mondays were a drag in general, and while her sleeping patterns were top-notch for her seasoned-age of fourteen, she couldn't help but succumb to her morning drowsiness.

"Rise and shine, Madoka! Don't fall asleep so early in the morning!"

Madoka jolted up in response to the sudden shouting beside her. She turned to find the source of the sound, finally stopping to face her best friend since the first grade, Sayaka Miki, making eye contact with her. Sayaka's expression was complete with a wide grin on her face and her vibrant, signature blue hair rested quietly on top of her head.

"O-Oh! Sorry Sayaka-chan, I'm really not too good with Monday mornings." Madoka said as she gave the blunette a little sheepish giggle. "I do go to bed the exact same time as always, but Mondays tend to wear me down…"

"Even after our fun little walk to school today?" Sayaka responded as she remembered what the hike to school was like this particular morning. Compared to other mornings – especially Monday mornings – it was nice to find out more about what kind of person Madoka's mother was like, what sort of advice she gives her, and how the Kanames conduct themselves at home.

"Yeah…" Madoka confirmed as she let out a little yawn. "Maybe it's just that Monday's hate me…"

"Who or what could possibly hate you, Madoka? You're like, the cutest girl I know!" Sayaka laughed as she crossed her arms. The compliment made Madoka blush a little and it forced her to knead her index fingers together. Sayaka found it cute, only reinforcing her accusations.

"W-w-w-what? That's not true…" Not even five minutes into the conversation and Sayaka was already making her flustered. Regardless, the blunette stood her ground. The fact that Madoka's doll-like stature, her adorable little pink eyes, her dazzling smiles that seemed to warm up everyone's hearts on first sight made her very admirable. It even made Sayaka a little jealous. But it was quite all right. She could have her all for herself, couldn't she?

"Good morning, you two," A familiar voice called out to the two girls. Into the classroom walked a girl with long green hair hurriedly. She was panting slightly, as if she had just ran a long distance sprint. "I don't think I'm late… am I?"

"Hi, Hitomi-chan! I was wondering where you ran off to…" Sayaka nodded in response. Madoka acknowledged her entrance but focused her attention on the computer in front of her, opening up her math notes from last Friday's class. "And nah, you aren't late. In fact, class doesn't even start until five minutes."

"Oh dear… then I ran all that way to my locker for not much. In my haste to get back home Friday afternoon I forgot to take my math homework with me, and this morning it was unfortunately nearly the same issue." The green-haired girl sighed as she took her seat behind Sayaka.

"Ah, who needs that dumb subject anyway? I'm sure Saotome-sensei will let you off the hook, seeing as how you're Perfect-san." Sayaka attempted to reassure her. Admittedly, math wasn't Sayaka's thing _at all_. In fact, she'd probably have a better time doing Japanese History than go through numbers and logarithms and triangles.

"Oh, it's not so much the incompleteness that's bothersome, it's more of my klutziness. I tend to forget things from time to time…" Hitomi answered with a pinch of contempt in her voice. "My parents don't really mind either way… but at least I have the missing item from Friday with me now."

"So anyway, did you guys check out the new episode of Angel Beats last evening? I swear, Yuri is too cool," Sayaka said with adoration, attempting to start a new conversation, one that wasn't about something as mundane as _mathematics_. "Too bad next weekend's the series finale. Oh well, great while it lasted."

"I like Kanade-chan the most!" Madoka commented. "And Yuri's background story was really sad… I can't imagine what it must be like losing your little siblings the way she did… I'm glad they might be close to redeeming themselves, though!"

"I know, right? Just goes to show you how much better you should really treat your relatives… how about you, Hitomi? Did you check it out?" Sayaka questioned.

"Hm? Oh, well, no. I was actually more interested in this old anime called Evangelion this weekend… I watched the entire original series on the internet." Hitomi's face turned a bit red upon admitting that fact. "I didn't have many expectations for it, but it turned quite grim down the road. Very enjoyable though."

"Yikes!" Sayaka recoiled back at the sound of her confession. "You never struck me as the kind of person to enjoy that sort of thing, Hitomi. Evangelion is about as creepy as you can get!"

Hitomi chuckled a bit but kept her composure. "I read somewhere that if a television series can unsettle you, then it is likely a good one. I believe the same applies for Evangelion."

"I ditched Neon Genesis a long time ago. One part was that it was just plain creepy but that Asuka girl… god, she is _annoying_! Ace pilot or not…" Sayaka said with contempt. "She instantly qualifies as the most annoying girl in all of anime…"

"Oh dear, there's actually quite the sad story to Asuka's background… but then again, that holds true for every Evangelion character." Hitomi sighed. "She has reasons for behaving the way she does, but I won't spoil anything in case you want to continue it any time."

"So she does, huh…" Sayaka thought hard about it for a little while. "Well… sometime soon, I guess. What could possibly go wrong, I guess."

"Sayaka-chan, Evangelion gets really gross down the road!" Madoka worriedly tried to dissuade her blue-haired friend. "I watched it with mama a few months ago and I couldn't sleep the entire night after certain scenes…" Sayaka couldn't do much but weigh the two options, so she decided to leave it on the backburner and think of it another day.

Within a few minutes, the entire class was filled with students nearing the sound of the bell. The bell finally sounded but even after a few minutes following so, Madoka's homeroom teacher was nowhere to be found. Naturally, chatter erupted. It didn't seem to matter what it was – talk about food, cute girls, anime, video games, and even fancy Japanese restaurants seemed to run rampant. Madoka and Sayaka were also guilty of chatting it up even after the bell rung. They figured that another chance like this wouldn't come in a long time; it wasn't until a bit later that someone _finally _entered the room - that someone being the school's vice principal. Sayaka was the first one to take note and raised an eyebrow at the spectacle. Moments later, the noise that engulfed the classroom died down in what was essentially in a flash.

"Hey, it's Yuichi Minamoto-san! What's up with this?" Sayaka whispered over to Madoka. Madoka, naturally, could only shrug at her query. Hitomi couldn't answer either, but the class couldn't help but inquire loudly as more whispers perked up from everywhere.

Taking center stage, the tall, buff-looking man raised his voice and signalled for everyone to be quiet. "_**A-HEM!"**_ That was effective, Sayaka noted, as once again the class died down.

"Good morning, class. I'm Vice-principal Yuichi Minamoto. I apologize for the suddenness, but I have a couple of announcements to make. First things first, however." The man said with a distinctive, booming voice as he pointed towards a boy in one of the front-row seats. Meanwhile, Madoka noted that the man's voice was easily intimidating and undeniably would strike fear even in the hardiest of students in the school.

"Son! What's your name?" the man asked, almost in an interrogative manner.

"H-huh?! Um, Nakazawa-san, sir!" the boy in the front row replied with quite a bit of hesitation, doing his best to keep calm. Madoka could only look onward as the little note in her head from before was given a checkmark beside it.

"It is a pleasure to have you attend class! Now, tell me, what is the proper way to cook chicken? Fried or curry?" the man continued with the questions, looking to pry out any information he could from a student he seemed to have just met today.

"Uhh… hm, wait, you can do either or, can't you?" Nakazawa replied with the same hesitation as from before. The man slammed his hand on the desk nearby, startling a few of the students. Sayaka couldn't help it but find the gesture funny.

"_Precisely!_" The man confirmed zealously. Hitomi, while attentively listening, reminded herself to avoid the vice-principal from now on. "Remember boys; do not associate yourself with women who judge you based on the fish you like to serve!

"And as for you, ladies, do not be so shallow as to scold anyone on how they cook their food in general! A man's pride is nothing to toy around with!" The entire class could sense their VP's irritation and it was starting to become amusing instead of intimidating. Sayaka on the other hand, didn't do anything else but roll her eyes. It was as if she saw this coming.

"Jeez… is it just me, or is every teacher in the school _horrible_ at romance?" Sayaka whispered over to Madoka. Madoka only giggled in response.

"Now that that is out of the way…" their VP continued, with a comfortable change in tone. "Your class will be receiving a new classmate, so let's welcome her aboard!" The majority of the class groaned in response.

"Shouldn't that have come first?" One of Madoka's female classmates commented out loud.

"Please come in, Akemi-san." The man signalled to her, facing the doorway to the classroom. On cue, a lean, black-haired girl stepped in and immediately raised several eyebrows and comments. Madoka couldn't help but stare in disbelief.

"She's hot!" one of the boys said quietly.

"I know who I'm asking out next." said another.

"I'm so buying her lunch today," Soundly declared another.

"Whoa, she's super gorgeous…" Sayaka announced. Even she was taken back by the new transfer student who'd already caused a stir not ten seconds in.

As Madoka ignored the noise, she continued staring at the new girl in slight shock. Hadn't she seen her somewhere before? What was she doing here? Was she losing it? Then she gasped when she realized _where _the new girl was from.

_Her dream from last night._

"No way…" Madoka uttered a loud whisper. "It couldn't be…"

"So, why don't you all tell us a little bit about yourself?" the VP asked her. The new girl nodded slightly in response.

"I'm Homura Akemi." The girl's stoic expression didn't falter one bit since her entrance into the classroom. To some of Madoka's classmates, it was almost scarier than what their VP had put them through not five minutes earlier. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The new girl bowed as the VP wrote her name down on the virtual whiteboard behind the two of them. Instinctively, Homura took the other marker lying down on the whiteboard and… corrected her name. It was apparent that the VP had incorrectly written down the new girl's name. Upon completion, she bowed again, much to the awe of her new classmates who applauded her loudly.

The new girl stood there and took it all in. Hitomi noted that it was almost as if she'd been used to this sort of thing. Within moments, the new girl looked over to Madoka's seat and examined her carefully. Sayaka quickly discovered that the new girl's gaze wasn't just one of careful examination, but a straight-up glare. Naturally, Madoka was taken aback and was slightly embarrassed. Of all the people in her class, it had to be her to receive a glare?

"Now then, I have another announcement to make." The VP announced, interrupting everyone's thoughts. "As you've undoubtedly noticed, your regular homeroom teacher, Kazuko Saotome-sensei is not with you at the time being. This is justified, however.

"I do regret you to inform that she is no longer part of this school's staff. This is due to a recent government project that has had the unfortunate side-effect of shuffling around several staff members – including teachers – across the country. However, I assure you that Saotome-san has agreed to all of the terms and requirements outlined in the papers of this new project and will miss you all.

"Therefore, your class will be taught by a brand-new teacher who is also fresh out of teacher's college." There were several eyebrows raised at this. Was this new 'project' really a good thing? Why was Mitakihara Middle School acquiring who was, quite frankly, a rookie?

"Make no mistake, however," The VP continued to speak. "We've reviewed your new teacher extensively and have found that she has excelled in every single one of her assignments, tests, and field projects conducted over the course of her teacher training. Simply put, you will be getting an excellent choice with a very promising career.

"Now then, Yomoko Littner-san, why don't you introduce yourself to your new class?" The VP once again looked over to the entrance of the classroom. This time, a tall woman with round glasses and lovely suit stepped in and raised even more popular first impressions than when Homura announced herself to the room. Her long, flaming red hair that was donned in a similar style to Homura's stood out quite well and frankly made her look beautiful, as denoted by many of Madoka's male classmates. Several 'oohs' and 'aahs' rung rampant as the new woman walked over to take center stage.

"It so sucks to be thirteen…" One boy said. This was overheard by Sayaka and she rolled her eyes, but she laughed it off.

"If our new transfer student is hot, then our new teacher is simply gorgeous!" another one commented.

"I wouldn't mind shelling out the rest of my allowance to get a date with her!" another one admitted.

"_Okay,_" Sayaka thought to herself. "_This is getting really weird really fast._"

Meanwhile, Homura's expression went from being a stoic, brick-wall to one of disbelief. Who in the world was _she_? While it wasn't easily noticeable, she knew that something was very wrong. Before she had the chance to continue riding her train of thoughts however, the red-haired lady spoke up.

"Good morning, everyone," The lady spoke up, a bright smile plastered on her face. "I'm Yomoko Littner-sensei and I'll be your teacher for the rest of the year. It's a pleasure to meet you all!"

Madoka's new teacher was quick to turn around and write her name down with uncanny confidence. Needless to really _say, _she earned an instant round of applause as she gave her new class a warm bow. Even the VP couldn't help but clap along with them.

"So then, that will be all." The VP concluded. "If you have any questions, please refer to me in the main office after school or during lunch time. Good bye. Take care of the class, Yomoko-san."

"Thank you, Minamoto-san." The lady responded. The VP left promptly, and the entire class was still exuberant from the introduction of two new persons in their class in one morning. Everyone looked on eagerly as their new teacher looked ready to begin teaching her first-ever class.

"Now then, to start off, why don't you take your seat, Akemi-san?" the lady told her. "By the way, I understand you're a new here as well, so let's do our best to fit in, shall we?" Offering a handshake, Madoka's new teacher tried to communicate with the transfer student Homura.

Homura was still in slight disbelief, but she nonetheless returned her new teacher's handshake. This was met with another round of applause. They all figured that they might as well enjoy this morning, as it most surely will not arrive again. Naturally Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi all joined in on the applauding, forgetting the details of today and instead opted to enjoy what was there in front of them.

Still, there was one thing still fresh on Madoka's mind. The transfer student that just arrived – her appearance was impossible to figure out. At least her new teacher was the result of a government project's meddling! Totally understandable, she figured.

Much of first period proved fruitful as it became clear that vice-principal Minamoto was not lying when he said that Madoka's new teacher was excellent. From engaging talks about the concepts of English to the intricate nature of the language itself, it was fascinating to see how well the class's new teacher fared so far. Not even Sayaka could help but listen attentively for once. Madoka found herself scribbling down as many notes as she could, not wanting to miss out on any detail her new teacher provided. Up until then, she didn't realize how engaging school could be. Despite feeling slightly bad, she couldn't help but wonder that perhaps it was a denotation of Saotome-sensei's ruggedness whenever she taught them. Moving on and shrugging it off, she listened as Yomoko-sensei continued speaking.

"… And so, the word _**intelligence **_simply means how much you can balance several different concepts in your mind and create bridges between them." The red-haired lady stated as she read the 8th-grade English book in her grasp. "But some aren't as quick to create these bridges as others. This quickness is called intelligence quotient. Don't beat yourself about that, though!" The lady was quick to give her class a cute giggle before continuing with her lesson. There were a couple of girls who weren't what one would call fully engaged in the lecture, however.

"So how much are the new pair of high heels? 6000 yen?" A girl asked the classmate beside her.

"Yeah," her classmate responded, trying to keep her voice down. "A little while late thought, they'll be-"

The two girls then felt something zoom past right by them and were startled beyond much belief. The two students behind them didn't fare much better as they felt the air contort around them as the object – the previous marker in their teacher's hand – rocketed past them and hit the surface of the wall behind them hard, leaving a lasting impact but no dent. The four of the students combined didn't know what was scarier upon realization – their teacher's arm strength or the fact that the wall was barely damaged. Needless to say they were shocked for a good while.

"No chatting." Yomoko-sensei reminded them in the nicest, calmest tone possible, winking as she did so. "You know that."

Following the minor disturbance in class, the two girls in question who were caught chit-chatting were sent out to the hallway and were forced to balance a stack of books for ten whole minutes. The entire class couldn't help but laugh wildly as it was almost time for them to return, with Yomoko signalling them to come back in. Even Homura, whose stoic expression had long since disappeared for a good amount of the period, found slight humour in it but quickly shook it off.

When the period was over, it was time for a recess break. A few students opted to go outside and mess around for the thirty minutes that the said recess had to offer. Yomoko-sensei opted to head outside and receive some fresh air. The rest of the class including Madoka, Sayaka, Hitomi, and Homura elected to stay indoors. For a few of the girls in the class, it was a good time to get to know their new transfer student this time around, as they'd already gotten to know Yomoko-sensei quite a bit from her teachings.

"What school did you go to before coming to this one?" A girl with reddish-purple hair inquired.

"I went to a private catholic school in Tokyo." Homura replied with no hints of uneasiness in her voice.

"Were you in a club?" Another girl asked her. Homura turned to face her right as the girl's olive-green hair stood out. "How about sports? Were you on any teams?"

"No, not really."

"Your hair is really beautiful!" A blue-haired girl that was darker than Sayaka's commented. "What kind of shampoo do you like to use?"

"There's something awfully mysterious about that girl," Hitomi noted from afar, speaking to Sayaka and Madoka. "Don't you think?" Sayaka acknowledged Hitomi's question and turned to face Madoka who was sitting down.

"Hey, Madoka." Sayaka started. "Do you know that girl? I could have sworn she was glaring at you when she was in front of the class."

"What?" Madoka replied with a sheepish grin. "I'm not really sure…"

"I'm sorry." Homura suddenly said at her desk, putting her right hand on top of her head. "I think today's been a little stressful for me. I'm not feeling very well. May I please go to the nurse's office?"

"Uh, sure… if you want, I can take you there!" the girl with reddish hair offered.

"Good idea! Can I come too?" the girl with the olive-green hair asked pleadingly.

"Please, don't trouble yourselves." Homura decided as she stood up. "I'll ask the nurse's aid to take me." The transfer student made her way towards Madoka and her friends, who all reacted to her advances instantly.

"Madoka Kaname-san." The transfer student began. "You _are _the nurse's aid for this class, are you not?"

"Huh?' Madoka responded, slightly startled. "Oh, I uh…"

"Would you please come with me? To the nurse's office?"

The two girls stepped outside and made their way to the transfer student's intended destination, with her leading the way. Madoka didn't really know what to do or say, so she kept quiet for a little while.

"Um... I was…" Madoka broke the silence between then. From the transparent walls from inside their classroom, their classmates could see the two of them walking down the hallway. "How did you know I was the nurse's aid for the class?"

"Yomoko-san told me that you were." Homura responded, if not promptly.

"Oh, right! Of course she did!" Madoka said with expectancy. "By the way, the nurse's office is over here-

"Uh…"

"This way, right?" Homura inquired.

"Huh? Yeah that's right, but..." Madoka was forced to pause as things were going a little too quickly for her, so she tried reorienting herself. "So anyway, how do you know your way there? I mean you're new here and all…" Homura didn't respond and only kept walking, with Madoka in tow. It was almost as if Madoka was the one who had to go to the nurse's office and needed an escort, not the other way around.

"Oh, uh… Akemi-san?" Madoka asked. The transfer student recoiled at this a bit, tilting her head up and suppressing a pang of anger that suddenly rushed to her, although the sight wasn't visible to Madoka.

"Call me Homura." She finally told her.

"Oh! Homura…" Madoka said her name aloud.

"What is it?" Homura asked immediately.

"Oh, nothing! It's just that you have an unusual name…" Madoka responded equally as fast. Somehow, this saying seemed to darken Homura's mood a bit more.

"But not in a bad way or anything!" Madoka elaborated sheepishly. "I was just thinking how it sounded cool… for a first name, I mean!"

Homura clenched her teeth at this. She then suddenly stopped to face Madoka switfly and looked directly at her. Taking note of their surroundings, they seemed to be inside of a small bridge that connected one part of the school to another.

"Kaname Madoka…" Homura began. "Do you treasure the life you currently live? And do you consider your family and your friends precious?"

"Eh?" Madoka was taken aback by the suddenness of the question. "Well, I… of course I do… I mean I do. My family and my friends!

"I love them very much and yes, they're very precious to me!" Madoka ended her response strongly with a smile on her face. She looked confident with what she just told Homura.

"Do you mean it?" Homura inquired.

"Absolutely!" Madoka responded. "I couldn't lie about that!"

"Good." Homura simply said. "Because if that's the truth… then you wouldn't try changing the life you have. Or the person you are.

"Otherwise… you lose everything you love."

Madoka could only look at Homura with a dainty, questioning look on her face. Her strange questions were enough, but Homura's new warning began to unsettle her slightly.

"Don't change. Stay as you are, Kaname Madoka." The black-haired girl turned to look away from Madoka. "Stay as you are… forever."

Madoka was left hanging after the final line Homura uttered. She had a mixed feeling of discomfort and uneasiness in her stomach and it did not sit well with her at all. Was set her apart was the ominous aura surrounding Homura. First she meets a girl in a dream that bared so much resemblance to Homura, and now she was being bombarded with strange lines and freaky comments.

Shrugging it off, she then remembered that she still had to escort Homura to the nurse's office, so she continued to follow her. However, she then couldn't shake off the feeling of inferiority that began plaguing her. Who was the one that needed help here?

* * *

While morning featured Yomoko-sensei being the star of the proverbial show, the rest of the school day featured a healthy Homura dominating all of her classes with her homeroom, earning many looks and stares in the process. In math class, the mysterious girl answered every single one of the whiteboard questions in less than ten minutes – uttered by their math teacher as incredible. They were complete with full sentences and crystal-clear handwriting. One of the girls from before who offered to take Homura to the nurse's office remarked that if their old teacher were here to witness this occurrence, she'd likely be highly impressed.

Gym class was no different. Whether it was the 100-m dash, the 400-m relay, or the high jump, Homura finished every single one of them… with record-breaking results. She not only broke the record for every single event in the school, as surprisingly remarked by another teacher, she also earned even more stares – this time from other students from other classes. Even Yomoko-sensei was impressed that a thirteen year-old girl was able to break the record books in her first day, giving her a warm smile when the two met again.

Not that that was impossible, of course. Yomoko didn't know the meaning behind that word after all she'd been through, especially early-on in her life. _Those were the days, _she pondered. She'd have plenty of more to carve when she got back home.

In stark contrast, Homura didn't care about the attraction she brought forth to herself. Her only concern lied with Madoka – a belief that was easily reinforced when the latter caught her glaring at her again following the high jump event. Naturally, Madoka hid behind Sayaka in response.

Meanwhile, Yomoko Littner – whose real name was _Yoko _Littner - thought to herself at the kind of students she'd encountered so far. Flossing her long red hair with her fingers, she thought of the kind of personalities that would be unravelled sooner or later. Not bad for a first day, she thought. She knew she already had a gifted student in Homura Akemi, but what of the others? They'd undoubtedly take some more time to develop. While she knew her own athletic ability was virtually unmatched thanks to years of combat experience, she didn't dare bring it up in an informal conversation - or anywhere else, for that matter. She was just Yomoko-sensei here and everywhere else.

* * *

After school, Madoka and her two friends decided to grab something to eat on their way home. Sayaka, the biggest eater, ordered a full-sized sandwich to much on while Madoka settled on a salad. Hitomi finished her meal as quickly as possible without looking too piggish. In between a bite, Sayaka looked at Madoka incredulously on the context of the conversation at hand.

"She said _what?_" Sayaka inquired.

"It doesn't make any sense, does it?" Madoka attempted to give a half-decent answer. Unfortunately her confusion got in the way of any reasonable thought she could give.

"And there I was thinking that she was this awesome girl but it turns out that she's a total psycho!" Of course, the 'awesome girl' was none another than Homura Akemi, and Sayaka responded with a pang of nuisance in her voice. Her hand gestures only served to compound her growing disdain. "Agh! I hope she doesn't think that acting like a weird transfer student is cool! That's so moe it makes me sick! Uck…"

Sayaka crossed her arms as if a gust of cold wind knocked her over and put her face down in frustration. Hitomi could look at her with a sorry smile as she saw her blue-haired friend simulate the act of rolling over.

"This has to be a misunderstanding." Hitomi reasoned. "Are you positive you've never met her before?" The question should be easy to answer, right? If only.

"I guess the sensible answer would be yes…" Madoka said aloud. Sayaka sprang up a few moments later, having brushed herself off of the frustration from earlier.

"Okay, what do you mean by sensible?" Sayaka inquired. "Either you met her or you didn't."

"Well it's like… you're going to think I'm weird, but I first met her in a dream." Madoka admitted. "Or something…"

After taking a sip from their drinks, both Hitomi and Sayaka couldn't help but laugh out loud at Madoka's revelation. Just pure laughter surrounded the table.

"That's awesome!" Sayaka told her with a chuckle. "Anime character in you is popping out, too!"

"Come on, that's mean!" Madoka tried to defend her stance. "This is really bugging me!"

"I got it all figured out." Sayaka told her. "You guys knew each other in a past life, and fate has reached across time and space to bring you back together again!"

"In your dream, what happened when you met her?" Hitomi asked.

"That's the thing; I can't really remember what happened." Madoka did her best to recall. "All I know is that it was really strange and spooky."

"If you want my opinion, I think it's entirely possible you met Akemi-san from somewhere before." The green-haired girl told her.

"Huh?" Madoka inquired.

"You might not remember meeting her, but your subconscious certainly took note of it." Hitomi explained. "When you were having that dream, your subconscious simply brought up the image of her."

"Seriously?" Sayaka asked with skepticsm. "That's a heck of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"Perhaps." Hitomi said as she examined her cell phone. "Uh oh, look how late it's gotten... excuse me, but I really should be going now."

"Is it piano today or classical dance?" Sayaka asked her as Hitomi gathered to collect her belongings.

"Tea ceremony lessons today." Hitomi remarked. "Even though our exams are coming up, my mother _still _wants me to continue taking them."

"Aaaand there's another reason to be glad that I wasn't born a rich girl." Sayaka admitted.

"We should get going too." Madoka announced. Looking to pick up her tray, she was interrupted by her blue-haired friend.

"Hey Madoka, you want to hit the music store on the way home?" Sayaka offered.

"Okay!" Madoka said with a smile. "Something for Kyosuke again?"

"Yeah, maybe." Sayaka blushed at the question slightly and gave her friend a small giggle. Walking out of the restaurant, Hitomi said her goodbyes to her two friends and went off on her own direction.

* * *

Killing it. That was her objective.

Homura Akemi frantically chased around a small, white creature and fired rounds of purple light at it as the aforementioned creature attempted to escape. It was nimble thanks to its small body, but unfortunately for it, speed wasn't a strength of its. In time, the creature was struck and hit, though it wasn't down for the count. It simply got back up and started running again.

Not wanting to lose it, Homura stayed on course, looking for the kill. _It won't get away this time, _she thought.

* * *

Madoka Kaname put on headphones provided at a panel in the music store she and Sayaka and entered a little while ago. Looking at the display panel, she was delighted to find out the song playing was 'Connect', one of her new favourites from a few months ago.

"… _Toki wa ima hajimari, tsuge…"_

That was also when a voice called out to her.

"_Madoka. Help me!"_

Instinctively, Madoka took off her headphones and wondered if she'd been hearing things.

"_Madoka. Help me!"_

The voice was there again, but this time the pinkette looked around the store. She didn't find anyone, so she decided to reorient herself before proceeding.

"Huh? What?" Madoka clutched the right side of her head and inquired.

"_Please." _The voice called out to here again. _"Help me!"_

Following the voice's cue, Madoka began walking to nowhere. She didn't know where she was headed but figuring that she was definitely not hearing things, she had to investigate. Sayaka took notice and followed her friend to wherever she went.

Madoka's little trek eventually led her to a dark part of the shopping complex in what she realized was the basement. Some parts were carefully being renovated so she knew she had to watch her step, but the voice in her head still ushered her to help it; Madoka obliged without much knowledge of what was going on.

Eventually, the pinkette reached a certain part of the complex she was trying to go around. From the ceiling above her, one of the metals tile from said ceiling broke off and instantly started Madoka. Falling back down on her bottom, she was met with the appearance of a furry white creature. Examining it, she immediately saw it was slightly bloodied up and gasped in shock.

Her first reaction was to go over to it and try to help it, which she did. Picking it up, she attempted to communicate with it.

"Was that you?" Madoka asked it.

"…Help me…" The creature said as it tried to breathe. That was when a chain fell down and dangled loosely in front of Madoka. Reeling from her startled reaction, the pink-haired girl was surprised to see a black-haired girl in front of her. The same girl who'd she'd taken to her school's nurse's office this morning.

"…H-Homura-chan?!" Madoka gasped in shock, examining the long-haired girl in disbelief.

"Get away from that creature." Homura simply ordered.

"B-but…" Madoka attempted to reason with who she realized was the little creature's attacker. "He's really hurt…

"Why don't you leave him alone? Why are you trying to hurt him?"

"This doesn't concern you." Homura told the pinkette as she approached her.

"But he was calling me!" Madoka fired back. "I could hear him calling my name! He was asking me to help him!"

"Really." Homura said with a tone of cynicsm in her voice. The two girls simply stared at one another for a little while, neither one of them wanting to give in to the tension that easily surrounded them.

Unfortunately for Homura, she was blasted by white foam which Madoka quickly noted was from that of a fire extinguisher. She turned to face her friend Sayaka, who caught up to her just now.

"Over here, Madoka!" Sayaka called out to her as she continued spraying the hostile transfer student with the fire extinguisher, depleting it with each second. Madoka said Sayaka's name in relief as she got behind her. Following the extinguisher's depletion, Sayaka immediately tossed it right back at Homura and ran off with her pink-haired friend.

By the time Homura blew away the obscuring foam, she was disappointed to discover that the two girls had run off. Intending to pursue, she was startled to realize that strange images popped up out of nowhere and halted her path. Sadly for her, she knew that a witch barrier had just popped up. Freaky images of butterflies, horse carriages, clocks, and olden-age buildings were some of the things that manifested themselves in front of her.

"Why is this happening now…?" Homura asked in slight frustration. Going after the two girls would have to wait.

Meanwhile, Sayaka and Madoka were still on the run from their own classmate.

"Now she's attacking you in cosplay?" Sayaka asked aloud while running. "What's her problem? And what's that thing you're carrying? Looks like a stuffed animal or something… is it alive?"

"I don't know!" Madoka replied while trying to keep up with her friend. "I don't know why this is happening but I have to save him!"

As the two girls continued running, the scenery changed as they noticed images of butterflies, broken windows, yellow warning tape, and small fences popped out of seemingly nowhere. Worse yet was the disappearance of the exit in which the two girls entered through.

"Hey, where'd the exit go?" Sayaka asked with a worried voice. "Where are we?!"

"I don't like this place…" Madoka replied with the same amount of concern that was threatening to choke her. "Everything keeps changing!"

"Oh crap…" Sayaka uttered. "What the heck's going on?!" Expecting a response, she didn't get one. Madoka could only look over and be shocked at what was around the corner.

"There's something over there!" the pink-haired girl pointed over to her right. Within seconds, creepy figures that resembled white puffs approached them. Their most discerning features were the moustaches that they donned, and a creepy chant as the group of white puffs continued to march towards them. Sayaka hugged Madoka in order to protect her, although deep down she knew that they were in danger.

"This is some kind of joke, right?" Sayaka asked no one in particular. "We're stuck in a bad dream and I _am _dreaming, right? Right, Madoka?!"

Scissors appeared from the group of puffs and closed in on the two girls slowly, and the girls could do nothing but stand there in horror. Recounting their final breaths, Sayaka and Madoka both braced for impact… when suddenly, the entire landscape began to shake as a bright light surrounded the two girls and obliterated the danger that was once in front of them.

"What's happening?" Sayaka asked, once again to no one in particular.

"I don't know…" Madoka did her best to give a response. She was just as shocked as Sayaka was at the spectacle.

"That was close, wasn't it?" a voice suddenly called out to them from behind. The two girls were immediately startled and turned to face the source of the voice. Approaching them was a yellow-haired girl that looked about their heights. The girl was clutching a chain on her left hand while holding what appeared to be a jewel on her right. "But don't worry; you're safe now."

"Thank goodness." The yellow-haired girl continued, continuing her approach. Sayaka got to examine the girl further and noticed the two drills on the side of her head as something she'd never seen before besides on the cover of a few fashion magazines. "You rescued Kyubey for me. I'm very grateful. He's a dear friend of mine and I was so worried!"

"He called out to me…" Madoka replied to the girl that essentially saved both her and her friend's lives. "I could hear his voice inside my head." The yellow-haired girl carefully examined the creature in Madoka's arms and made a revelation for herself.

"Ah, I see." The girl only responded. "I can tell by your uniforms that you both go to Mitakihara Middle School? Are you eighth graders?"

"Who are you?" Sayaka simply asked.

"Oh, that's right…" the yellow-haired girl realized. "Maybe I should introduce myself."

Once again, the scenery surrounding the three girls began to shake and the new girl knew that she'd have to hold off for now.

"Actually, it's going to have to wait a bit" the new girl responded. Gracefully, she threw the jewel into the air and with precise movements she caught the jewel with both hands. "Please excuse me. I have to wrap this up first!"

A glorious yellow light sparked from her jewel and enveloped her in a bright light. Within moments her entire outward appearance changed. Her sandals were replaced by yellow-black boots that almost went up to her knees, for one. The leggings that once covered all of her legs were gone and swapped in favour of different leggings that revealed a bit of her thighs, much to Sayaka's fascination. Her top was switched out with a white suit that was wrapped perfectly with a brown corset that strangely resembled body armour. Finally, she now wore a black cap that was adorned with a feather to the side.

Being blown away by the sheer intensity of this new girl's transformation, Madoka and Sayaka could only stand back and watch what was unravelling in front of them. Within moments the new girl was standing on top of a few objects much like crates, now standing face-to-face with a couple dozen or so of the villainous cream puffs.

Jumping up, the yellow-haired girl prepared to take them all down by summoning a battalion of what appeared to Madoka as summoned muskets. However, she was interrupted mid-flight as a loud booming noise from behind her broke everyone's concentration and forced them to turn away from the battlefield. Out of nowhere did a figure of a woman riding on what looked to Sayaka to be a hoverboard that promptly overtook the yellow-haired girl's position, both in height and distance. The woman in question had long, flaming-red hair and donned a flame-printed bikini top and a small, blue jacket with a skull-shaped logo on the back to go with it. Her shorts seemed to fit her style perfectly along with her equally-impressive boots. The lady looked ready to pounce. Sayaka pondered for a moment on the thought that this lady looked extremely familiar, but she had to shrug the wandering thought off for the time being regarding the danger in present. The biggest thing that stood out, however, was the large rifle the lady was carrying.

Madoka and Sayaka were too surprised to think clearly, but the yellow-haired girl was forced to land after being caught off-guard so simply. It was abundantly clear that introductions would have to wait.

Taking aim with her rifle, the red-haired lady fired five shots that instantly wiped out each of the five white puffs she was intending to destroy. The projectiles, the yellow-haired girl noted, weren't bullets but rather blue energy beams. She too could not do much but sit back. Was she like her? She'd find out, but it was apparent that this lady wasn't an enemy. She did admit that it was quite rude of her to interrupt like this.

Upon completion, the red-haired lady zoomed past the remainder of the white puffs with blinding speed with her hoverboard, making round after round, shot after shot as she quickly dispatched each one of the white puffs with extreme precision. Madoka wasn't keeping track of the time, but she could tell that an easy ten, fifteen seconds whirred right past the three of them as the lady made her blazing-fast laps. Sayaka couldn't help but think amusingly that this one would make a great Grand Theft Auto drive-by shooter.

When the ashes settled, the red-haired lady flossed her hair and landed right next to the three girls on her board with a funky smile on her face. However, that instantly disappeared when she realized who she had just rescued. Making eye contact with all three of them, the disbelief was mutual among Madoka, Sayaka, and their saviour as they looked at her.

"Y-Y-Yomoko-sensei?!" Madoka asked shockingly.

* * *

****A/N: So, I've been meaning to write this up for a while now, but schoolwork got in the way of everything! I borrowed several lines from episode one from the Madoka anime, and you can probably tell where the battle scene involving Yoko and her hoverboard is from. Hope you enjoy the story – I have a lot planned out! Spin on! ****


End file.
